Posted on by pmg

Global Densified 4G/5G — What is the Environmental Price Tag to the Earth and Life?

By Free the Sky Nov 17, 2020 | Original SF Chronicle article here.


"Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth."

~Henry David Thoreau

Companies are launching unprecedented numbers of rockets to put global Wi-Fi and 5G satellites into the sky. 100,000+ satellites, plus drones and balloons, are planned. Industry and government have done little research, claiming the “big sky” can absorb any problems. Inexplicably, the FCC exempts these satellite networks from environmental review.

However, there are major problems:

  • Ozone destruction
  • Pollution: rocket exhaust gases, black carbon, alumina, other toxic chemicals
  • Fossil fuel use and climate impacts
  • Debris and satellite accumulation, collision risk
  • De-orbiting pollution, casualties and fires
  • RF-radiation impacts to humans, wildlife, plants, and trees
  • Loss of night sky, interference with astronomy
  • RF interference with GPS, airplanes, weather satellites
  • Global electrical circuit interference
  • Solar flare disruption to satellites and connected IoT network societies
  • Energy use

The Earth and sky together are one living organism. Harming the sky and Earth risks all life and future generations.

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OZONE DESTRUCTION

“If left unregulated, rocket launches by the year 2050 could result in more ozone destruction than was ever realized by CFCs…The Montreal Protocol has left out the space industry…” -Darin Toohey, University of Colorado, 2009.

The sun turns oxygen into ozone in the stratosphere, creating the ozone shield which protects the Earth. But rocket exhaust, alumina, water vapor, and black carbon accumulate in the stratosphere and block the sun’s rays, reducing ozone creation. In 2018, Martin Ross, senior project engineer at The Aerospace Corporation, estimated rockets’ black carbon and alumina was 11,000 tons per year. These new mega-constellations require 1000s of additional rocket launches.

Rockets also destroy up to 100% of the ozone in their path, while rocket and satellite chemicals and de-orbiting also destroy ozone. Severe ozone loss is possible.

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POLLUTION AND CLIMATE IMPACTS

Each shuttle launch killed 100-1000 fish in the nearby lagoons. Some rockets burn kerosene – a fossil fuel which produces black carbon – or methane, a greenhouse gas. Highly flammable alumina is often used as a propellant. Pollution persists in the stratosphere for years before falling out. Black carbon and alumina particles in the stratosphere trap the heat generated on earth.

MYTH vs. FACT

Myth: Old satellites and rockets burn up on re-entry and vaporize into nothingness.

Fact: Re-entry causes satellites and rockets to burn, explode, and fall apart, creating large and small chunks, down to microscopic particles, of debris. Vaporization creates gases and dust.

SATELLITE DISPOSAL

  • The space industry “disposes” of spent satellites by maneuvering them into long-lasting “graveyard” orbits. Some orbits are so congested with junk now as to be “unusable”.

  • The other disposal method is “de-orbiting” so that satellites “burn up”, but this causes high levels of pollution and fall-out on the Earth. Last year, flaming debris caused fires in Chile, and a still operating Samsung satellite crashed on a Michigan horse farm, its balloon falling onto powerlines. Satellite mega-constellations increase risks exponentially.

RF-RADIATION HEALTH IMPACTS

253 scientists signed the 2015 International EMF Scientist Appeal, warning the UN and member states of the damage already occurring. Extensive research shows many impacts from this radiation including:

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increased tumor, cancer, and stroke risk, oxidative stress, increase in free radicals, DNA, neurological, immune, and dermatological damage, heart rhythm disorders, breaches in the blood-brain barrier, blood changes, sperm damage, electromagnetic sensitivity, cognitive problems, headaches, nausea, and links to Alzheimer’s and ADHD. Wildlife, bees, birds, trees, and plants are also harmed. RF radiation harms bees’ learning, metabolism, navigation, immunity, smell, and learning.

5G millimeter RF is highly absorbed by the skin’s sweat ducts and the cornea of the eye, and could additionally impact cardiac function. Bees also absorb high levels of 5G frequencies due to resonance.

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THE TIME TO TAKE ACTION IS NOW

We must protect our one precious Earth.

  • Contact public officials and demand comprehensive environmental review, investigations and public consent on these projects
  • Sign the appeal. www.5Gspaceappeal.org.
  • Participate in the Dec. 21 international protests. See www.stop5Ginternational.org for information.
  • Many are calling for an immediate moratorium on global Wi-Fi and Densified 4G/5G

INTERFERENCE WITH ASTRONOMY, GPS, AND WEATHER SATELLITES

The beauty and integrity of the sky is being destroyed by these bright satellites, which interfere with astronomy, GPS, and weather satellites. NOAA, NASA, and meteorologists have opposed some of these systems. Representatives from the American Geophysical Union, American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association have said these new technologies could interfere with weather satellite operations. An official complaint lodged with the Federal Communications Commission asked that some 5G deployments be delayed to allow more study on the issue.

INTERFERENCE WITH GLOBAL ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT

Health and life are dependent on the natural global electrical circuit flowing from the atmosphere to the Earth and through everything. Lightning is a visible component. These artificial networks barrage the atmosphere continuously with RF-EMF pulses polluting this circuit and altering the Schumann resonances regulating the rhythms of our brains and bodies.

VULNERABILITY TO SOLAR EVENTS

Solar flares, electromagnetic pulses, and Carrington events could wreak havoc on Internet-of-Things societies which would foolishly depend on connected utilities, banking, medical equipment, commerce, government, and transportation.

ENERGY USE

Another impact of the implementation of widespread 4G/5G is the inevitable increase in energy usage among users of the Internet of Things. This is already a main contributor to climate change. The Ericsson Mobility Report, a leading source on the state of the mobile world published in November 2019, estimated that, by the end of 2025, 5G will attract 2.6 billion subscriptions, generating 45% of the world’s total mobile traffic data. Some report that this increased usage, along with the infrastructure that would be developed to handle the 5G era, could consume up to three times as much energy as today.

Despite the grave hazards and ignoring experts’ warnings, companies and governments are moving ahead with a worldwide experiment. The costs will fall on the public.

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW

To learn more:

~ Supported by Ecological Options Network, Stop 5G International, 5G Free California, and Last Tree Laws.